What it is: a detailed and well-researched examination of how perception can effect success and how to harness it to the fullest.

Core concepts: keeping plans within the right scope, tracking progress and accomplishments in a material way, and being aware of your individual frame of reference and how it might effect your perspective.

About the author: Social psychology researcher Emily Balcetis is a professor a at New York University and is also known for the TED Talk about motivation and goal-setting she gave in 2014.

What it is: an informed and engrossing exploration of minimalism as a concept, which avoids discussing how to embrace it favor of asking why.

Is it for you? This isn't a guidebook about leading a minimalist lifestyle, but it will encourage deep thought about why minimalism is compelling to some people and inspire readers to ask if it's right for them.

Try this next:Marianne Power's Help Me!, which also encourages taking an intentional look at our relationship with self-improvement.

What it's about: ways for parents who themselves had difficult childhoods to heal, and to avoid perpetuating negative cycles with their own children.

Why you should read it: full of candor and free of judgement, this well-researched guide to should be approachable to people with childhood trauma who want to do a better job than their own parents did.

Reviewers say: "This book is for parents who not only love their children but want to like them too" (Kirkus Reviews).

What it is:a frank and poignant look at the controversial right-to-die movement, with moving accounts of how people from different walks of life approach the topic and evaluate their healthcare choices.

Don't miss: the less widely discussed topics this issue raises, from the absurdity of mundane paperwork during the end-of-life process to concerns about how the movement could be used against minorities and disabled people.

About the author: Diane Rehm is a renowned radio host (her eponymous NPR show ran from 1984-2016) who has become a leading voice in the right-to-die movement after losing her husband to Parkinson's in 2014.

What it's about: how to step back from your current professional life to examine your beliefs and discover your true calling.

The 3 fundamental shifts: gaining a clearer perspective on where you are and what you want, taking stock of where you are and how you got here, and turning all of this newfound awareness and wisdom into manageable, concrete actions.

Don't miss: the way individual vocational success is put into context with and can improve society as a whole.

What it's about: In this engaging and inspirational collection of essays, comedian and disability advocate Zach Anner talks about his cerebal palsy, career journey, and of course, what it's like meeting Oprah.

Why you might like it: Anner is candid and very funny, but he's also not afraid to discuss some of the weightier issues that come with disabled life.

Want a taste? "There's no denying it: I was a crappy baby who failed his way into this world and I've been making the best of it ever since."

What it is: an exhaustive but approachable account of the legal and political struggle to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and what life as a disabled person was like before it.

Don't miss:the "Capitol Crawl," in which disabled activists crawled up the stairs to the Capitol Building to demonstrate the figurative and literal obstacles between them and full participation in society.

Why you should read it: While things like wheelchair ramps and closed captioning may seem unremarkable to many people, they were rare before the ADA and accessibility advocates argue there is still much work to be done.

What it's about: the author's journey through decades of misdiagnosed health problems due to late-stage Lyme disease, and her health's effects on her professional and romantic lives -- and her sometimes complicated relationship with her own body.

Read it for: the honesty with which Khakpour discusses the psychological fallout of her physical illness, which is a topic that could use more attention.

What it is: an upbeat and inspirational guide/memoir that urges readers (and the medical establishment) to reevaluate stereotypical ideas about what autism looks like, especially the ways gender can effect the expression of autistic traits.

Why it's important: The author goes to great lengths to encourage people to view autism as more of a difference than a "disease," and how her diagnosis came as a relief instead of something negative.